Five Generation adidas signings announced

Major League Soccer is starting to announce its 2017 Generation adidas signings ahead of the MLS Player Combine.

Here’s a quick background on the fire players announced so far:

• Abu Danladi (UCLA): forward, nearly signed last year with Generation adidas program before deciding to return to school
• Miles Robinson (Syracuse): center back, member of the U.S. U20 national team, ACC Defensive Player of the Year
• Jackson Yueill (UCLA): attacking central midfielder, excellent 2016 season has seen his stock rise considerably
• Adonijah Reid (ANB Academy): forward who has played with Canada’s youth national teams
• Shamit Shome (FC Edmonton): midfielder, played 26 games in the NASL last season, has also seen time with Canada’s U18 and U20 youth national teams

Ahead of the SuperDraft, MLS has also signed five top college seniors:

• Brandon Aubrey (Notre Dame)
• Julian Gressel (Providence College)
• Zeiko Lewis (Boston College)
• Brian Wright (University of Vermont)
• Jeremy Ebobisse (Duke)

Ebobisse’s was signed in the fall as an underclassman, but his apparel contract with Nike prevents him from being part of the Generation adidas program. It is expected that he will enjoy many of the same roster benefits, but an announcement of that status has not been made yet.

Generation adidas is a joint program between MLS and adidas that is dedicated to developing exceptional domestic talent in the U.S. and Canada in a professional environment. Each year, a handful of top domestic collegiate underclassmen and youth national team players are signed by the league and placed in the SuperDraft. Generation adidas players do not count against an MLS team’s salary budget.